Is it true Wk 1

Hebrews 11:1–3 ESV

1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 For by it the people of old received their commendation. 3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.

ILLUSTRATION

Most of us have an unhelpful view of Faith. Even if you read this verse, the odds are you miss the most important word that we seem to forget. “ASSURANCE” in our walks with Christ and discussion with others about why we trust and believe God’s Word. Think about it like a bridge! On the beginning side we have HOPE.

HOPE is a good thing, but it can also be an unhelpful thing if it isn’t grounded in reality.

Genuine Faith is the bridge from Hope to Assurance.

Often when my mom and dad didn’t want me to do something as a kid, I would ask them a simple question in response… “Why?” At times they would offer a response with reasoning and explanation. Other times I would hear… “Because I said so.”

As a kid, there was nothing more infuriating than hearing, “Because I said so.”

I wanted an explanation, and quite honestly, because I said so… wasn’t good enough.

Yet every week we gather, and we read sections of scripture and talk about how it should change our lives and what it means for us today. And it occurred to me… we talk about the Bible but the question we haven’t really come out to ask or answer is… WHY should we trust it? Why should I believe it?

So, over the next several weeks I want us to ask hard questions, Questions like…. How do we know the bible is true? Did the resurrection of Christ really happen? How were people saved before Christ died on the cross? Why should we believe the Bible is without error? Does the Bible contradict itself? Where did God come from?

We are skeptical people, which means we have questions. We also have a creator that is big enough for our questions. And these are worth asking and the answers can be known if we look for them.

So lets jump in…

PRAYER –

WHAT IS THE BIBLE?

The Bible is an extraordinary work of literature, and it makes some astonishing claims.

It is one unified book but it is made up of sixty-six smaller books.

These books were written by men in various historical time periods, backgrounds, personalities, and cultures.

It records the details of the creation of the universe, the origin of life, the moral law of God, the story of God and his relationship with a rebellious people, and the historical details of God’s redemption for all who trust in His son Jesus Christ.

MOST IMPORTANTLY, The Bible claims to be God’s revelation of himself to mankind.

IF THAT IS TRUE… It has implications for all aspects of our life: How we should live, why we exist, what happens when we die, and what our meaning and purpose is…

SO HOW DO WE KNOW IF IT IS TRUE?

There are several answers to this question that have been given by Christians throughout the years… we are going to talk through some of the arguments that people have and see where they fall short of answering the question.

THE TESTIMONY ARGUMENT

Some Christians have argued that Scripture is true by pointing to the fact that their life is different because of their faith in Jesus Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

WHILE it is true that believers in Jesus Christ are “New Creations” according to 2 Corinthians 5:17…

A Changed Life shows consistency with the bible. WE should expect to see a difference in attitudes and actions given that the Bible is true. BUT the testimony of a changed life BY ITSELF is not enough to prove The Bible is true.

An atheist could argue that their belief in nothing, produces feelings of peace and satisfaction, it doesn’t mean their position is true.

THE FAITH ARGUMENT

Some Christians say we know the Bible is true by faith.

While that sounds great, it isn’t a logical argument, and it isn’t a good application of scripture.

Faith is having a confident belief in something that you can perceive with your senses (Hebrews 11:1)

Hebrews 11:1 ESV

1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

When I believe without observation that the earth’s core is molten, I am acting on a type of faith.

LIKEWISE, when I believe in God whom I cannot directly see, I am acting ON faith.

WE SHOULD have faith in God and His Word, but the “By Faith” response does not actually answer if the bible is true.

We know it’s true but faith is the same as saying We know its true by believing.

But the act of believing something doesn’t make it true.

In 1 Peter 3:15 the bible teaches that we are to be ready to give an answer for the hope that is within us… Saying we have faith isn’t the same as giving a reason for that faith.

THE BECAUSE IT SAYS SO ARGUMENT

Some people point to 2 Timothy 3:16 as proof that the bible is true and without error.

2 Timothy 3:16 ESV

16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,

So clearly if the bible is given by revelation of the God of truth, by The God of truth… it can be trusted as true.

The problem with answering the question this way is, it presupposes the the verse is true. Which is the whole question.

IN OTHER WORDS… How do we know that 2 Timothy 3:16 is true? Because its in the bible.

BUT how do we know the bible is true? 2 Timothy 3:16 tells us it is.

It is a circular argument. It doesn’t prove anything, it assumes it.

It is important that the bible states it is inspired by God and true… its part of a good argument, but on its own, it doesn’t answer the question.

THE CONSISTENCY ARGUMENT

The Bible is remarkably consistent! It has over 40 authors over a time span of 2000 years and yet God’s moral law and the story of Man’s rebellion and God’s plan of salvation are consistent throughout all of them.

If we were looking for a book that was inspired by God’s revelation… this is EXACTLY what we would assume we would find.

More than that, the Bible is unique in its authenticity among ancient literary works.

The sheer number of ancient manuscripts that have been found, along with their consistency from the oldest to the newest have proven it to be without alteration.

This proves the Bible has been accurately translated for thousands of years.

It proves 1) the bible is unique. 2) what we have today is true to the original. You cannot doubt the Bibles authenticity unless you are willing to doubt all other ancient writings as well. (Which have far less manuscripts and consistency.)

This sounds like we are on the right track for answering The Bible’s truth claim! BUT… Uniqueness and authenticity to the original do not necessarily prove that its true.

Hebrews 1:1 ESV

1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets,

Luke 1:1–4 ESV

1 Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, 2 just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, 3 it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4 that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught.

It helps prove the claim, but it doesn’t drop the mic.

THE HISTORICAL ARGUMENT

Archeological discoveries have confirmed many events in the bible.

When Jericho was excavated, they found that the city walls fell as described in the book of Joshua.

Other passages like

Genesis 14:2 ESV

2 these kings made war with Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar).

… which some scholars once thought of as mythical, ancient documents have now proven that the five cities of the plain that were mentioned were all on ancient trade route maps.

There was no record of Pontius Pilate (The Governor of Caesarea) until 1961.

The first archaeological find in Judea that mentioned Pilate was a fragment of carved stone, discovered in 1961, in the ancient port city of Caesarea. It is known as the Pilate stone and is kept at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. That’s almost 2000 years

While Archeology confirms scripture, it does not prove it as completely true.

AFTER ALL, not every claim in scripture has been confirmed archeologically. The Garden of Eden has never been found, nor has Noah’s Ark, So, at best what we can say is ARCHEOLOGY only shows some of the Bible to be true.

THE DIVINE KNOWLEDGE ARGUMENT

A number of passages in the Bible predict future events in great detail. Events that were future to the writers but are now in our past.

For Example, in Daniel 2 a prophecy predicted the next three world empires and their falls.

If the Bible were not inspired by God, how could human writers possibly have known about events in the distant future?

Babylon

Medo-Persia

Greek

ALSO… The Bible touches on matters of science in ways that seem to go beyond what was known to mankind at the time.

In Isaiah 40:22 we read about the spreading out (expansion) of the heavens (the universe).

Yet secular scientists did not discover such expansion until The 1920’s.

The spherical nature of the earth and the fact the earth hangs in space are suggested in Job 26:10 and job 26:7. The book of Job was written around 2000 BC

long before the nature of our planet was known.

Such evidence is certainly consistent with the claim the Bible is inspired by God. Some people find

But alone, isn’t enough to prove the Bible is true.

Forty-five hundred years ago after the Great Flood, Yahweh told this to Noah when He gave Noah permission to eat meat

Genesis 9:3–4 ESV

3 Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything. 4 But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.

Thirty-five hundred years ago Moses recorded these words of Yahweh for the Israelites

Leviticus 17:10–14 ESV

10 “If any one of the house of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn among them eats any blood, I will set my face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from among his people. 11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life. 12 Therefore I have said to the people of Israel, No person among you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger who sojourns among you eat blood. 13 “Any one also of the people of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn among them, who takes in hunting any beast or bird that may be eaten shall pour out its blood and cover it with earth. 14 For the life of every creature is its blood: its blood is its life. Therefore I have said to the people of Israel, You shall not eat the blood of any creature, for the life of every creature is its blood. Whoever eats it shall be cut off.

Deuteronomy 12:23 ESV

23 Only be sure that you do not eat the blood, for the blood is the life, and you shall not eat the life with the flesh.

Yet this Biblical truth was either ignored or not understood by men of science and medicine for thousands of years. Eventually, around 1620 the English physician and creationist scientist William Harvey (1578–1657) discovered the circulation of blood pumped throughout the body by the heart. Blood maintains and supports life by carrying nutrients to every cell of the body and taking away wastes. In this way the life of the flesh is in the blood.

Even as few as 200 years ago this Biblical truth was ignored when it was common to try to heal people by draining their blood. Barbers, identified by their red-and-white-striped poles, were the usual operators. Bloodletting is an ancient practice, going back well over 2,000 years to ancient Greece.

A famous example of bloodletting is George Washington. He was bled to death by his doctors in 1799 at age 67 after catching a cold from inspecting his farm in a snowstorm. The average adult body contains 160-170 ounces of blood. Yet over the course of 10 hours preceding Washington’s death, 125 ounces of his blood were withdrawn.

CONCLUSION

The truth of the Bible obvious to anyone willing to fairly investigate it. The Bible is uniquely consistent and extraordinarily authentic. It has changed the lives of millions of people who have placed their faith in Christ.

It has been confirmed countless times by archaeology and other sciences.

It possesses divine insight into the nature of the universe and has made correct predictions about distant future events with perfect accuracy.

When a Christ follower reads the Bible, they will recognize the voice of their creator. The Bible claims to be the Word of God, and when the evidence of all these arguments work together, they provide us what we need to have the confidence to trust the Bible as true and inspired.